A hot section of 10 or 12 games to open the season offers no guarantee. But it offers hope.
Hot sequences can increase expectations to a disloyal degree and cause disappointment. They can also point out that great things are ahead.
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Determine what is not an easy task, but it was the challenge posed to a group of writers from MLB.com and Yahoo Sports, who joined six strikers with which they buy excellent early performance.
These are the strong departures that we plan to resist the time test in 2025.
Michael Comforto, DE, Dodgers
I was optimistic about Comforto as one of the More underestimated free agent players Available last winter after its high finish in the season (.880 OPS on the last 44 games) and its long production record at the plate. Its underlying metrics in 2024 suggested that it was much closer to the All-Star version of itself than its numbers at the surface level indicated and that a distance from the Oracle Park Oracle could do wonders.
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The cord of $ 17 million in comforto, $ 17 million with the radar compared to some of the moving dodgers with the highest profile during the offseason, but it was very well adapted as a new solitary face in the reigning champions programming. His surprising success against Southpaws last season (.886 ops) has not yet translated (1 for 11), but he looks a lot dangerous against right -handers, helping to strengthen an offense that we have not yet seen at full power. Comforto makes its walks, striking power and gives the employees of pitching another impact bat to reflect once beyond the MVP.
It is probably a little exaggerated to expect Comforto to have the level of impact which Teoscar Hernández Made on his one year contract last year, but I like his chances of maintaining a line of thickness higher than the average for the whole season, even if it goes relatively unnoticed on a full list of superstars. – Jordan Shusterman, Yahoo Sports
Wilyer Abreu, DE, Red Sox
Ok, so Abreu will probably not direct MLB in Ops all season. But there are several reasons to believe that his hot start is not a stroke of luck, even if his scandalous number – he entered Wednesday with a slash .412 / .524 / .765 – necessarily fell.
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On the one hand, this does not come out of nowhere. Although the defense of Abreu attracted more attention than his offense during his recruit season, in which he won a Gold Glove Award in the right field, he was also solidly higher than the average as a striker, finishing with an 114 OPS +. Who came with promising Quality of contact metricsAlso, including a maximum output speed of 114.4 MPH, a hard rate of 50.5% and an aerial rate from 22.9% – all figures that refer to an impressive power potential.
The first results of this season suggest that Bouche is about to rely on this success, with Best swing decisions Not only allowing him to draw on this power more often, but also to help him reach the base with a much higher clip. – Thomas Harrigan, mlb.com
Spencer Torkelson, 1b, Tigers
During most of last season, the old choice of recovery n ° 1 stretched towards the bust – or, at the very least, the bust adjacent. But Torkelson looks like a different striker so far this season, much closer to the generational knock he seemed to be out of the Arizona State in 2020.
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Mechanically, the Torkelson swing is much more connected and better sequenced than the past years. And above all, he pulls the ball in the air and does it with authority. He was previously above average in this very revealing metric. So far this season, its 39.1% drawn in the air rate are ninth in baseball.
Last year, it took 190 appearances “Tork” to hit your third circuit. This year, he reached this important step in 47 trips to the dish. This is followed as a significant escape based on a) the changes in swing and b) the balance sheet of prospect. – Jake Mintz, Yahoo Sports
Corbin Carroll, de, diamondbacks
Carroll entered Wednesday with four circuits, reaching. 304 with a percentage of strikes .696. Its figures are much more like its recruit campaign of the year in 2023 so far than last year. He also seems to have added additional power. Its average bat speed is up to 75 MPH after being 73.2 MPH in the second half of 2023 and 73.7 MPH last year.
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With this battish speed added, Carroll hits the ball stronger than ever and lifts it more often. All its quality of contact parameters – its expected statistics, its rupture rate, its barrel rate and its sweet spot rate – are at least 86th centile, which indicates that the good results it has are not a stroke of luck. Last year, he was not even in the 60th centile in one of these categories.
Carroll said during training in the spring that he had worked on his swing during the offseason, and the results seem to bear fruit. It is currently in the 98th centile in the commissioning race value and the 97th centile in the value of a striker. This combination is the way you build an MVP season. – Sarah Langs, mlb.com
Jung Hoo Lee, of, Giants
Lee profiled as high -end speedster when he signed with the giants there are two offenses. After a 2024 season widely lost because of the injury, he played much more than that at the beginning of 2025, reducing .300 / .349 / .450. Lee is currently equal to the head of the team in safety (12) and he is tied for the head of the MLB in doubles with six.
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When he came to the United States after a successful career in South Korea, Lee brought with him skills that were sure to translate into the big leagues, and without a torn labrum who forced him to miss the majority of last season, we would probably have seen the skills of the bat's bat last year. If he continues to be a double machine, we look at a foolproof star this time. – Russell Dorsey, Yahoo Sports
Logan O'Hoppe, C, Angels
Despite what you may have heard, yes, the angels are still there, just like one of their old best hopes. People were reasonably excited about O'Hoppe when he started in 2023, but an injury to the left shoulder increased about four months of his recruit season, and enthusiasm around him has never been restored – even if he returned and hit nine home circuits and was quite solid to marble (0.244 / .303 / 0.409, 20 hours).
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O'Hoppe's sweet spot rate was only the second Freddie FreemanLast year, and as we learned from the craze of the bat at La TorpilleThe use of more barrel helps to compensate for the poor speed of bats. O'Hoppe had also done so in 2024 – its average of 70.7 MPH classified in the 28th centile among the qualifying strikers. This may no longer be the case; His 2025 bat speed was just above the average of the league (72.1 MPH), and not at all, by coincidence, he has a 1.254 OPS with five circuits in his first eight games.
He is responsible for recognizing how few games have been played, but he is followed. O'Hoppe had almost two years to completely resume the strength of his shoulder before, and he was 25 years old in February. – Shanthi Sepe-Purple, mlb.com
